Air Quality Index

EPA's Air Quality Index Gives Citizens Critical Information to Take Necessary
Health Precautions, Including a Category for Those With Special Health Conditions
Like Asthma. The Air Quality Index provides a uniform format nationwide
as well as health messages for sensitive groups, such as children with asthma.
This index is used by local weather forecasters throughout the country to provide
improved information about levels of local air pollution and the precautions
people should take to protect themselves on days when air pollution exceeds
health standards and poses threats to public health. This effort is part of
the EPA's longstanding commitment to expand the public's right to know about
environmental conditions in their communities. The features of the Air Quality
Index include:

A category that provides specific warnings for sensitive groups, like children
with asthma and others with special respiratory conditions.

Detailed warnings about how all people should protect themselves and their
families from harmful levels of air pollution.

Warnings based on the most up-to-date scientific information on the known
health effects of air pollution levels.

In addition to the Air Quality Index, EPA is making information about summer
smog available on its Internet web site, which currently shows animated maps
of smog dispersion in real-time for most of the states. This Ozone Mapping Project,
as it is called, is part of a program to provide Americans with even greater
access to information about pollution in their communities. The Ozone Mapping
Project is available at http://airnow.gov/.
This web site also shows forecasts of local air quality for the next day.